Comparative Exploration

World Religions

These are Orthodox churches from Sofia, Bulgaria and Thessaloniki, Greece. Notice the difference in the religious structures.

        

Regional Conflicts

Folk Culture

In many places of the world the market and its vital function has been preserved as part of the traditional way of life. Does your experience and image of a market place differ from the one you see on the pictures?

        

Water taps are part of the traditional cultural landscape in Turkey and the Balkans. The road side water tap is a good reason to stop and to meet people.

        

Ethnicity

People from different ethnic groups dress differently. These are pictures of Gypsies and Pomaks (Christians converted to Islam) from Bulgaria. How would you guess which ethnic group is which?

        

Languages

Cities

Compare the structures and the building materials on the pictures to those you are familiar with. The old houses and the new apartment block are typical for Bulgaria.

        

People build roads in various ways. Here is one example of preserving the old way of road building in the historic part of the city of Plovdiv.

        

Compare the planning of cities Pennsylvania, US to those in Eastern Europe -Bulgaria as shown on the maps below:

        
        
        

Holidays and Celebrations

This is the graduation of the class of 1995 of the American University in Bulgaria. What makes it similar and yet different from the typical college graduations in US?

                 

High school graduation is celebrated in many countries. In Bulgaria it is important to arrive in a fancy car and to be cheered by crowds of people gathered along the streets or around the restaurant where a prom is to be held.

        

Wedding in the Pomak area in Bulgaria. In many ways the wedding celebration on the pictures is similar to your culture. What kind of differences would you detect?

        

Population